I ask because I had a bout of godawful abdominal pain last August after taking codeine for pain after skin cancer surgery. I had to take a midnight ambulance ride to the ER, where two hypos of morphine barely made a dent in the horrific pain.
I think I had pancreatitis, not “stomach discomfort”, because of the intensity and location. Have you ever had it? Can you describe it?
I had pancreatitis. A pretty bad case - I was hospitalized for four weeks.
I didn’t find it a sharp acute pain. It was more like an ongoing stomachache. I had a blocked gall bladder at the same time and that was a lot more painful.
The most common cause for abdominal pain in adults is constipation. The fact that you’d been taking codeine, a known constipator, makes me suspect that was very possibly your cause.
Constipation pain can be horrific.
Frankly, any abdominal pain can be horrific.
If you went to the ER for your pain, they probably checked your blood for amylase and lipase levels. If they were not excessively elevated, and you had no history of pancreatitis before, then a dx of pancreatitis is unlikely.
Conversely, if they x-rayed your abdomen, and discovered you to be FOS (full of stool) after taking codeine, that’d probably lead them to conclude your problem was constipation due to codeine use.
There are of course many other causes of abdominal pain, but I’ll refrain from describing them at the moment.
If I ever have to take codeine pills, would it be effective to stave off constipation if I used some kind of laxative as well? Would something like Metamucil suffice?
It’s a good idea. You can also get an Rx stool softener along with the pain Rx. When I was discharged post-surgery from the hospital, the discharging physician scripted both for me and was very insistent that I take the stool softener at the same time as the pain med. Sorry I don’t remember the names of either one, I never had them filled.
I had an acute pancreatitis when I was about 15 (that’s over 60 years ago). I don’t recall the symptoms, but I don’t think excessive pain was among them. I think it was digestive problems. It lasted about two weeks during which I was not allowed any fat in my diet. Then it went away. Perhaps there were antibiotics involved. I have had no recurrence.
I knew a man who had chronic pancreatitis. I once went to a restaurant with him and he got them to make him a plate of plain boiled rice that he sugared heavily. That’s all he ate. He must have been taking vitamin supplements and eating some protein source (maybe skim milk), but that’s all ate that night. What a life.
I had several bouts of pancreatitis before they jerked my gallbladder.
The pain was right at the diaphragm kind of an intense burning along with a feeling that I wanted to vomit. In two of the attacks vomiting caused the symptoms to go away.
The final attack was caused by drinking a glass of water. The pain started at 4pm and did not go away until after 3 hours in urgent care when they figured out the issue and gave me some serious injected pain meds.
Yeah, I’m thinking gallbladder problems can mimic pancreatitis.
Gall bladder problems can do that. They can also cause pancreatitis.
That, or an opioid induced spasm of the Sphincter of Oddi, though that’s probably more of a longshot.
Moved MPSIMS --> IMHO.
My pancreatitis ranged from a slow-burning stomach ache that never slowed down to a sharp, acute, stabbing pain right in the center of mass.
No kidding? 
Well, in my case the pain was at the very top of the abdomen or possibly in the chest. Though intense, it was diffuse across the entire area, and it was constant. It radiated into my upper back and shoulders, and this was the reason for the ER trip - I was half suspected of having a heart attack. It wasn’t a localized, stabbing pain at stomach level or lower that came and went. And I remember no stoppage problems in the bathroom the next day. All this happened on the same evening after the skin surgery, so I had only taken two doses of codeine that afternoon and evening. I hadn’t been taking it for days.
I do remember vomiting in the hospital when I went to the bathroom. I assumed it had to do with the morphine, and told the nurse.
Yeah, hopefully the myriad blood tests they gave me included something that screened out pancreatitis. The paperwork never made it to my PCP. I only started this thread because I had read in another thread that someone’s pancreatitis wrecked that gland and the person became diabetic as a result. I was worried.
My wife had. From what I saw, it looked like the worst pain imaginable.
She woke up fine one morning at around 9. Told me she was not feeling well around 11. An hour later, she was rolling around in bed, crying, moaning and vomiting bile. By 1:30, we were in ER.
When she found the strength to get up, she had a very characteristic posture, her upper body leaning forward. She described the pain as like being stabbed in the back and stomach simultaneously. It radiated around her, like a belt and it was so strong that she could hardly breathe.
All in all, she spent almost 3 weeks in hospital because there were complications (hemorrhages, infection) including a couple of days in ICU. For the first 8 days, the doctors refused to say anything about her state was other than that it was stable. Just looking at her, from my non-professional point of view, that was not particularly reassuring.
Should read:
…For the first 8 days, the doctors refused to say anything about her state other than that it was stable.
Your symptoms sound more like gallbladder issues to me (IANAD)
Colace and Doc-Q-Lace (same drug, two manufacturers) is one of the more common stool softeners, generic name docusate sodium. If your insurance won’t pay for it as a prescription drug or if your doctor didn’t write a prescription for it, you can also get it OTC as Dulcolax Stool Softener, which is not to be confused with Dulcolax (bisacodyl), which is a stimulant laxative.
Docusate is essentially a detergent. It is digested and excreted into the bowel by the gallbladder. It breaks up fat to reduce the surface tension of your poop. This lets your poop absorb more water, making it heavier and slipperier so it’s easier to pass. It may also inhibit the bowel from absorbing water, so there’s more water to go into the poop. It helps to drink extra water when you take it. This is the one that, as the ad says, “doesn’t make you go, it makes it easier to go.”
Bisacodyl actually makes you go. It causes the nerves in your large intestine to make the muscles contract faster and with more force, as well as forcing the stool to absorb more water.
And yeah, it’s very standard to prescribe docusate with opioid pain meds. Sometimes I see bisacodyl instead, but as it can cause more abdominal cramping and discomfort, when I see it on the med list and the patient isn’t constipated yet, I often ask the doctor if she’ll let us try docusate first. Usually the answer is, “sure, give it a shot.” The thing to remember is that docusate isn’t a laxative, it’s a stool softener. You often have to take it every day for a few days before you see results if you are already constipated.
I prefer bulk fiber (psyllium/Metamucil) and fiber from foods (prunes are a classic for a reason), but they’re not good for everyone. You have to be able to/willing to drink a lot of water with them to prevent obstructions, and they’re flat out contraindicated for a couple of bowel conditions or for people who can’t swallow well.
I’m gallbladder-free since 1993.
Les Espaces Du Sommeil, yeah. “. . . pain as like being stabbed in the back and stomach simultaneously. It radiated around her, like a belt and it was so strong that she could hardly breathe.” That’s pretty much how I felt. The weeping and moaning, too, which I was doing in the ambulance on my way to the ER. But no subsequent hospitalization. I was released after several hours.
I’m sorry to hear about your wife’s hospitalization. I hope there were no long-lasting complications.
Ah… cant be that then… whatever it is I hope things are better soon!